In BRIEF: sex selection; deep freeze

Sex selection 1: undercover reporters from the Sunday Times newspaper have found that a prominent IVF specialist in London is sending patients to Cyprus so that they can choose the sex of their baby, at a cost of up to £12,000. Sex selection for “family balancing” is illegal in Britain — and it turns out that it is illegal in Cyprus as well. Cypriot authorities are investigating whether criminal charges should be laid. The Sunday Times also revealed that Rainsbury’s partner in Cyprus, the well-known Dr Panos Zavos, was also offering sex selection — but he was prepared to undercut him by £3,000. ~ Sunday Times, Nov 5

Sex selection 2: Britain’s best-known IVF expert, Professor Lord Robert Winston, has backed sex selection for “family balancing”. “I think there are a lot of shibboleths to which we have paid lip service, but when you analyse them they certainly don’t threaten the moral fabric of our society,” he told the Sunday Herald. “And one of them is sex selection. I think if sex selection was freely available in Britain it would change the balance of society hardly at all, if at all.” ~ Sunday Herald, Nov 5

Rescued from deep freeze: A Spanish woman has given birth to a baby from a donated embryo which had been frozen for 13 years in a Barcelona IVF clinic. The news is expected to give fresh impetus to researchers who claim that thousands of embryos are being destroyed every year because Britain lacks an embryo adoption program. ~ London Times, Nov 4Link to source